HC Deb 23 March 1971 vol 814 cc436-7

1. Where one or more employers and one or more trade unions, or an employers' association and one or more trade unions, propose to enter into an agreement which, if made in accordance with proposals approved by the Industrial Court under this Schedule, would be an approved closed shop agreement, they may make a joint application to the Industrial Court under this Part of this Schedule.

2. Any such application shall be accompanied by a draft of the proposed agreement, and shall be an application for approval by the Industrial Court of the proposals embodied in that draft.

3. The Industrial Court shall not entertain any such application in respect of a draft agreement if either—

  1. (a) it is made before the end of the period of two years beginning with the date on which a previous application under this Part of this Schedule was made in respect of one or more descriptions of workers consisting of or including any of the descriptions of workers specified in the draft agreement, or
  2. (b) it is made before the end of the period of two years beginning with the date on which the result of a ballot under Part II or Part III of this Schedule was reported to the Industrial Court, where the draft agreement relates (wholly or in part) to workers of any description comprised in that ballot.
and shall not entertain any such application if precluded from doing so by paragraph 15 of this Schedule.

4. Subject to paragraph 3 of this Schedule, on any application under this Part of this Schedule the Industrial Court shall refer the application to the Commission for examination by them.

5.—(1) On a reference under paragraph 4 of this Schedule, the Commission shall consider whether it appears to them, in relation to workers of the description or descriptions specified in the draft agreement, that it is necessary for those workers to be comprised in an approved closed shop agreement for the purposes—

  1. (a) of enabling them to be organised, or to continue to be organised, as mentioned in section 1(1)(c) of this Act;
  2. (b) of maintaining reasonable terms and conditions of employment and reasonable prospects of continued employment for those workers;
  3. (c) of promoting or maintaining stable arrangements for collective bargaining relating to those workers; and
  4. (d) of preventing collective agreements relating to those workers, which have been 437 or may thereafter be made by the applicants, from being frustrated.

(2) The Commission shall also consider whether it appears to them that in the circumstances the purposes specified in the preceding sub-paragraph could not reasonably be expected to he fulfilled by means of an agency shop agreement.

6.—(1) On completing their consideration of the matters specified in paragraph 5 of this Schedule, the Commission shall prepare a report setting out their conclusions.

(2) The Commission shall transmit the report to the Industrial Court and shall furnish copies of it to the applicants and to the Secretary of State, and shall arrange for the report to be published in such manner as the Commission may consider appropriate.

7.—(1) If, on considering the matters specified in sub-paragraph (1) and (2) of paragraph 5 of this Schedule, the Commission are not satisfied both—

  1. (a) that for all the purposes specified in sub-paragraph (I) of that paragraph (and not only for one or some of those purposes) it is necessary for the workers in question to be comprised in an approved closed shop agreement, and
  2. (b) that in the circumstances those purposes could not reasonably be expected to be fulfilled by means of an agency shop agreement,
the report of the Commission shall indicate that fact; and in that case the Industrial Court shall not proceed further with the application to which that report relates.

(2) In any other case, the Industrial Court, on receiving the report of the Commission, shall make an order allowing such period, not being less than one month or more than three months, as the Court may consider appropriate for enabling an application to be made for a ballot under Part II of this Schedule.

8. If, in a case where the Industrial Court makes an order under paragraph 7(2) of this Schedule, no application for a ballot is made under Part II of this Schedule before the end of the period allowed by the order, the Industrial Court shall make an order approving the proposals embodied in the draft agreement.

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